The Region - News from March 5, 1986

The results of contested lie detector tests should not be admitted as evidence in federal court proceedings, because of the tests’ questionable accuracy, a federal appeals court ruled. In a 2-1 vote, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that “unstipulated polygraph evidence is inadmissible . . . because it does not assist the trier of fact (the jury) to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue.” The appellate ruling overturned a decision by U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. of Los Angeles to admit such evidence in a case involving alleged bribes in order to obtain distribution franchises for electronic components from Motorola Inc.